politics

Hillary Clinton has had her own bouts with activists from the Black Lives Matter movement, but none were as heated as an extended exchange between her husband, President Bill Clinton, and protesters who disrupted his speech in Philadelphia on Thursday.

Activists with the social-justice movement have generally pushed the Clintons to atone and more fully account for policies legislated during Clinton’s presidency that contributed to a spike in the incarceration rate. In August, the former secretary of state had a tense backstage meeting with members of the movement. Neither side seemed to walk away fully satisfied.

Thursday’s protest, however, was far more aggressive. Though the audio of the protesters’ voices is a bit muffled, it appears they raised the topic of so-called “three-strikes laws,” which mandated lengthy prison sentences. At one point, a protester yells that Clinton “should be charged with crimes against humanity.”

“I love protesters,” the former president said repeatedly during the confrontation. “I looooooove protesters. Except when they won’t let you answer them.”

The verbal clashes revealed that Clinton is far less willing to disavow the policies he pushed through Congress than the former First Lady has proven to be. Clinton claimed that he didn’t even want the extra sentencing acts, but that then senator Joe Biden inserted them to placate Republicans.

“I talked to a lot of African-Americans groups. They thought black lives mattered,” he said of his discussions around 1994’s Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, which Biden wrote and Clinton signed into law. “They said, ‘Take this bill. Because our children are being shot in the street by gangs. We have 13-year-old kids planning their own funerals.’

“She don’t want to hear any of that,” Clinton said, referring to one of the protesters. He then rattled off the lower crime rates that he said resulted from the legislation. “We had a 46-year low in the deaths of people by gun violence, and who do you think those lives were, that mattered? Whose lives were saved, that mattered?”

The former president cited the economic boom of the 90s, arguing, “If you think it was bad in the 1990s . . . you ought to go with [the Republicans]. Otherwise, you better elect Hillary to be president.”

Public opinion surrounding criminal-justice policy has changed drastically since Clinton was president. Violent-crime rates have dropped precipitously in the last 20 years. A string of high-profile police shootings gave way to the Black Lives Matter movement. Stiff sentencing, increased policing, and the drug war itself are all policy matters progressive Democrats now seem eager to forget. President Barack Obama has visited and interviewed inmates in prison. There is even some level of bipartisan support for lowering incarceration rates.

There have been rumblings that Bill Clinton, long considered a political natural, has been less canny in 2016. His instinct here, to double down on his record and refuse to give an inch, suggests he might not fully grasp just how much the politics of criminal justice has transformed since he held office.

“I don’t know how you would characterize the gang leaders who got 13-year-old kids hopped on crack and sent them out onto the street to murder other African-American children,” Clinton said, his voice growing raspy. “Maybe you think they’re good citizens, but she didn’t. You are defending the people who kill the lives you say matter. Tell the truth.”

“The reason they know it’s true, is that they won’t hush,” Clinton said about the protesters. “When somebody won’t hush and listen to you, that ain’t democracy. They’re afraid of the truth. Don’t you be afraid of the truth.”

These Vintage Campaign Photos Show Politics Has Always Been a Wild Ride

John Kerry after the Democratic National Convention at the University of Massachusetts Boston, on July 29, 2004.

“The Boston Pops were playing along with fireworks and James Taylor was performing onstage. John Edwards’s and Kerry’s handlers were negotiating who’s going to go onstage first. The candidates definitely had their off-stage and onstage personas, and as a photographer I call it ‘getting behind the blue curtain.’”

Photo: Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

Kerry after an event in Jefferson City, Missouri, on August 5, 2004, during a “Believe in America” tour.

“This was a spontaneous event, it wasn’t supposed to happen. I was in the right place at the right time. After the event there was scheduled filing time, which allows the media to file their work from the day. The band was playing as Kerry was moved from one room to the other, and I guess he just couldn’t help himself, and he just picked up a guitar and started playing. I happened to be the only one there because everybody was filing. That’s who Kerry is; he’s the life of the party, a very social man. I was waiting there for the chance that he would do that.”

Photo: Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

Hillary Clinton leaving an event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in July 2007.

“Hillary’s one of the tough ones because she’s got photographers that are longtime, social friends, and so they’re going to get access and people that she doesn’t know aren’t. She’s got a very controlling campaign, so every other photographer was back in the designated area. I wasn’t supposed to be in this area, but she saw me, smiled, and waved to nobody, then quickly shot the look of death to the staffer who let me in.”

Photo: Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

John Edwards at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, on August 16, 2007.

“This was a miserable day. It was over 100 degrees, heavy humidity, so as a photographer you think, What’s my best opportunity to make one picture in any given situation? This is just a handshake picture unless you concentrate on what makes it different: the campaign picture and the pen, media is surrounding him, and he’s got a wireless mike on him. You have to look for your best chance to make a lasting image. There’s always some little aspect you can capitalize on.”

Photo: Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

A pro-Bush rally outside the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas, in November 2000.

“This is after the general election that just went on for ever and ever. Bush was still the governor of Texas, so he was going into the office every day, but I think this was a staged event on a Saturday. So I see this picture and I start making this image and I realize this is actually a senior staff member of Bush’s campaign, who I’d only ever seen in a business suit. That was funny.”

Photo: Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

Dennis Kucinich supporters before a Democratic debate in Durham, New Hampshire, on December 9, 2003.

“The Kucinich people are the most fun and they always have this traveling drum circle. I was trying to make a fun picture as we were waiting for the debate to start. It’s no big deal as an image—what you see is what you get—but it’s interesting from a composition standpoint, and there’s a nice light on there. Kucinich is a nice guy. He’s like Dole—hard to shake and very comfortable in his own skin. I was introduced to him at a rally one night and the funny thing is, often you get behind the blue curtain and it’s all talking and you’re part of the conversation, which is helpful for a writer, but as a photographer it’s very frustrating because you want to be ignored so you can observe and make pictures!”

Photo: Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

George H.W. Bush during the general election in Omaha, Nebraska, on October 28, 1988.

“I wasn’t supposed to be on the tarmac here as Bush is vice president and running for president at the time but I knew a press guy on his campaign and I was literally just a kid and he took pity on me. I like this image because it kind of tricks your eye. Because of the flatness of the light and the time of day Bush is almost like this cardboard cutout that someone’s carrying. The composition is nice; the six heads behind him of the Secret Service agents and the priest (who was the president of Boys Town at the time) come together to make a complicated image. And there are little hints, like the banner, and the boom mike, and you can see a couple of American flags, which tell you that this is a campaign event. If Bush’s head wasn’t framed between the guys directly behind him and if his arm was in a different place, the whole composition would be off and the photograph would be wrong to the eye.”

Photo: Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

John Kerry after the Democratic National Convention at the University of Massachusetts Boston, on July 29, 2004.

“The Boston Pops were playing along with fireworks and James Taylor was performing onstage. John Edwards’s and Kerry’s handlers were negotiating who’s going to go onstage first. The candidates definitely had their off-stage and onstage personas, and as a photographer I call it ‘getting behind the blue curtain.’”

Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

Kerry after an event in Jefferson City, Missouri, on August 5, 2004, during a “Believe in America” tour.

“This was a spontaneous event, it wasn’t supposed to happen. I was in the right place at the right time. After the event there was scheduled filing time, which allows the media to file their work from the day. The band was playing as Kerry was moved from one room to the other, and I guess he just couldn’t help himself, and he just picked up a guitar and started playing. I happened to be the only one there because everybody was filing. That’s who Kerry is; he’s the life of the party, a very social man. I was waiting there for the chance that he would do that.”

Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

Hillary Clinton leaving an event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in July 2007.

“Hillary’s one of the tough ones because she’s got photographers that are longtime, social friends, and so they’re going to get access and people that she doesn’t know aren’t. She’s got a very controlling campaign, so every other photographer was back in the designated area. I wasn’t supposed to be in this area, but she saw me, smiled, and waved to nobody, then quickly shot the look of death to the staffer who let me in.”

Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

John Edwards at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa, on August 16, 2007.

“This was a miserable day. It was over 100 degrees, heavy humidity, so as a photographer you think, What’s my best opportunity to make one picture in any given situation? This is just a handshake picture unless you concentrate on what makes it different: the campaign picture and the pen, media is surrounding him, and he’s got a wireless mike on him. You have to look for your best chance to make a lasting image. There’s always some little aspect you can capitalize on.”

Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

Barack Obama during a Democratic debate at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, on January 5, 2008.

“This is the main filing center where everybody watches the debate and they all have their laptops out. The new thing at the time was small video cameras. Everyone was shooting videos all the time, which was a new phenomenon, and that took over the campaign in 2008.”

Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

On the street waiting for a candidate to show up in Concord, New Hampshire, in January 2008.

“This wasn’t Ron Paul’s or Hillary’s campaign headquarters, and that’s Ronald Reagan in the window. This was a spontaneous rally, which happens all the time in New Hampshire. Everybody shows up to everything there. As a photographer, looking at the people that make up the political process is something you can overlook. You’re trying to make pictures of the politician when you turn around and realize there are just as good, or better, pictures behind you. They might not show the actual candidate, but they’re meaningful.”

Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

Bob Dole leaving an event in Green Bay, Wisconsin, in October 1996.

“I love this type of picture where you have the bright spotlights on but it’s still behind the scenes, which speaks to the complex and weird nature of a campaign. You’ve got the Secret Service and the campaign staffers and the rally paraphernalia, and this person who is the reason all this is happening, but they’re also very separate from and isolated by this event that they’re the centerpiece of.”

Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

Jesse Jackson at an event at the black-history museum in Greenville, South Carolina, 1987.

“This is a good one. It’s for a New York Times magazine cover piece on Jackson and I hadn’t done anything behind the scenes with a candidate at that point. I was young, probably around 20 years old, and I got three or four days to travel with him with very close, personal access. The museum was a converted residential home and was packed inside, so I sat outside on the porch as I figured there wasn’t going to be a picture. I heard Jackson start to tear up, pushed my way to the front to see this amazing scene. Not only is he emotional but you’ve also got this statue on the wall so the picture just came together. It made itself.”

“This was a unique opportunity that’s really hard to get nowadays—a storytelling moment with four different candidates in it. It’s crazy to even think that you could make an image that has this weird visual narrative happening, but that also works as a photo as far as its composition. There’s tension there; there’s a story behind it.”

Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

Dole at an event in Louisiana, 1996.

“Dole’s campaign had a campaign plane and a ‘zoo’ plane. Traditionally, all the staff and mainstream media ride on the campaign plane with the candidate and the technicians, photographers, and cameramen go on the ‘zoo’ plane, which was more relaxed. The campaign plane broke down so everyone crowded onto the ‘zoo’ plane, and I don’t think there were even enough seats. Back then you could still smoke on planes, so the cabin was filled with blue cigar smoke. Several guys grabbed plates of BBQ so there was also this Cajun feast in the back of the plane and Dole was stuck onboard with everyone. You couldn’t even move from one side to the other it was so crowded. The thing with Dole that people never really realize is the guy has an amazing sense of humor. He’s a very relaxed politician; you never see him nervous and he was always quick with a joke. He was pretty relaxed about the whole situation. Nowadays, they’ve really taken a lot of fun out of the process.”

Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

Before a Pat Robertson victory party on Super Tuesday, March 8, 1988, in Atlanta, Georgia.

“This was one of those weird situations. I saw these boys dressed identically and started to make some pictures and immediately their mother comes in to stage-manage the scene. She was helping to set up the picture and it actually makes a better photograph with her in it. Those hats are probably sitting in an attic somewhere to this day; they’re like trophies. The presidential race is such a unique American experience. It’s a traveling circus.”

Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

George W. Bush leaving a press conference in Iowa, in 2000.

“It’s my philosophy to be in the wrong place, so to be out of place in the hallway where you might not make a picture as opposed to being inside the press conference where you are going to make a picture. In the magazine world you have to make a picture that has some legs and that can last a couple of weeks. If you’re a newspaper or wire photographer you have to have a picture every hour but it’s going to be replaced by the thing you shoot an hour later. It’s a different type of pressure. The reporter in the photograph actually died in the second Gulf War. He was riding with an Air Training Command doing live reports for 30 straight hours and he got a blood clot in his leg from not moving. He was a good reporter. Here, he’s trying to corner Bush and get some kind of answer out of him.”

Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

A pro-Bush rally outside the Texas Capitol in Austin, Texas, in November 2000.

“This is after the general election that just went on for ever and ever. Bush was still the governor of Texas, so he was going into the office every day, but I think this was a staged event on a Saturday. So I see this picture and I start making this image and I realize this is actually a senior staff member of Bush’s campaign, who I’d only ever seen in a business suit. That was funny.”

Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

Dennis Kucinich supporters before a Democratic debate in Durham, New Hampshire, on December 9, 2003.

“The Kucinich people are the most fun and they always have this traveling drum circle. I was trying to make a fun picture as we were waiting for the debate to start. It’s no big deal as an image—what you see is what you get—but it’s interesting from a composition standpoint, and there’s a nice light on there. Kucinich is a nice guy. He’s like Dole—hard to shake and very comfortable in his own skin. I was introduced to him at a rally one night and the funny thing is, often you get behind the blue curtain and it’s all talking and you’re part of the conversation, which is helpful for a writer, but as a photographer it’s very frustrating because you want to be ignored so you can observe and make pictures!”

Photograph by Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images.

George H.W. Bush during the general election in Omaha, Nebraska, on October 28, 1988.

“I wasn’t supposed to be on the tarmac here as Bush is vice president and running for president at the time but I knew a press guy on his campaign and I was literally just a kid and he took pity on me. I like this image because it kind of tricks your eye. Because of the flatness of the light and the time of day Bush is almost like this cardboard cutout that someone’s carrying. The composition is nice; the six heads behind him of the Secret Service agents and the priest (who was the president of Boys Town at the time) come together to make a complicated image. And there are little hints, like the banner, and the boom mike, and you can see a couple of American flags, which tell you that this is a campaign event. If Bush’s head wasn’t framed between the guys directly behind him and if his arm was in a different place, the whole composition would be off and the photograph would be wrong to the eye.”